under this post are two posts full of PK related drama. i have a simple solution to all of it.
ok, first off, i hate message boards in general, or at least boards with more than a hundred members. they are breeding grounds for trolls and flamers and other wastrels. in my internet youth i wasted time on usenet, but now i know better. i hang out on a couple of small community message boards and that is about the extent of it.
here is my little flame, which no one can reply to (i guess if you want you can email me):
why PK and PKL should be a bannable offense
PK and PK lite should be bannable offenses. the logic behind this is pretty simple if you take two givens: 1) if you violate the code of conduct you should be banned. and 2) the basic intent of the code of conduct is to stop people from being a jerk.
people who PK and PKL are jerks, being a jerk is essentially a COC violation, so PK'ers should be banned.
i know what you're saying, "chris, not everyone who PK's is a jerk."
my response to that is also simple: fooey
the people who PK/PKL that you think are not jerks simply have not been caught being jerks. this is because the only motivation to PK is to be a jerk. you can candy coat this by saying "it's more challenging" or "it's more fun" or "it's the only real challenge in the game" which is a a very polite way to say "i am a jerk".
if you go PK, or roll a character on a PK server, you are looking to fight other players, kill them, then either take their stuff and/or talk trash to them, which is being a jerk. if you fail and are killed you will pout about it, then get all your friends together and go looking for the person that wronged you and start some retarded little PK war, which is also being a jerk. if PK and PKL were bannable offenses, then the population of jerks will be decimated in a matter of days.
if you type /PKL, BAM! you're banned, if you log in to darktide, BOOM! Bannage. double click the altar bhalz and BING! you're outta here! that's right, leave that stuff in the game as bait for jerks. boost the PK abilities of all the PK weapons, add new quests for uber PK items that require you to be PK or PKL to complete them. the jerk population on all servers would be thinned in a matter of hours. leave PK in the game, hell work hard to improve it, and then punish people for doing it.
imagine a trip to the marketplace, or the lifestone in AB with no jerks talking about n00bs, whining about lag, or crying about being ganked. imagine message boards with no one trying to sell the gear they ganked from someone who thinks it is rightfully theirs. imagine everyday whining and drama reduced tenfold. imagine being a mage and not being begged for buffs by jerks who just want to duel. (hey jerks, if both of you have level 7 buffs, then fighting without them should be the same... why not fight without them?) imagine not having to stand in line for a buff bot for 30 minutes just so you can recover your corpse. the thought almost brings tears to my eyes.